On Tuesday, I mentioned a news story circulating the internet concerning a 13-year-old Chinese boy who jumped to his death from a building apparently inspired by World of Warcraft. Well it turns out the story is only semi-accurate.
According to Pacificepoch.com, the game in question is actually Warcraft III, and the facts may well have been misrepresented by 'Internet addiction activist' Zhang Chunliang who is suing Blizzard for the death of the boy. Confused? That'll be my fault for not explaining it properly. Here's some more info from Pacificepoch:
"The current "fatigue system" government regulation to limit game time targets MMORPGs like WoW, not PC-based games like Warcraft. However, the lawsuit came at a time when the government finally started noticing this type of "addiction." Thus, Zhang is merely an opportunist who swooped in to monetize the publicity surrounding this unfortunate event."
Many internet pundits have been drawing parallels between Zhang and US attorney Jack Thompson who has similarly hit the videogame industry with a range of lawsuits.
